After Disney and Pixar’s hit Inside Out (Docter and Carmen, 2015), Zootopia (Howard and Moore, 2016) shows once again, courtesy of Disney, that audiences of all ages can enjoy and learn valuable lessons from what are commonly labeled as ‘kids movies.’ The film tells the story of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin), a young, energetic bunny aspiring to be a cop, who tries to stand up to a system of police employment that doesn’t favor her species. She runs into a slick con-man fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) who eventually becomes her sidekick in the fight against Zootopia's deeply rooted corruption. All the while, Judy learns to trust Nick beyond her fear of the fox, her natural predator.

Judy saving a shrew from a large donut sign during a police chase.

Without revealing the socio-political themes hidden in the film itself, the trailers market a fun, family-friendly film with cartoon hijinks. One of the most beloved scenes from the film that is played frequently in the trailers is one in which Judy and Nick try to obtain information on a license plate in a DMV office run entirely by sloths. Bustle compares the scene to a classic comedy sketch. Citing SNL’s “More Cowbell” sketch, the article describes the comedy sketch model as taking a concept and then blowing it up to ridiculous proportions as the sketch plays out. As Judy keep trying to talk to the sloth and finish his sentences to speed up the process, Nick's jokes cause the sloth to slowly laugh, slowing him down more.

Nick telling the sloth at the DMV a joke. Judy is not amused.

When adults watch Zootopia (2016) expecting to see an average Disney film, they are surprised to find a film that has a much deeper message than other kids movies. The film’s underlying theme has strong parallels with racial profiling, stereotyping, and suspicions. Despite Judy aspiring to become a cop, she’s looked down on because she’s a bunny and she’s smaller and less intimidating than other animals like elephants and water buffalos. Instead, she’s stationed as a meter maid, and she has to gain the respect of her peers. Nick is also not immune to the "speciesism" present in the city of Zootopia. He is stereotyped as sly and untrustworthy, therefore, because of pressure and bullying from others since childhood, Nick caves in to these prejudices and acts in the way that everyone expects him to. Meanwhile, Judy has to learn to trust Nick because of her fear of foxes originating from a close encounter she had with a fox when she was a child, and Nick has to learn to be truthful with Judy as he breaks through the socially expected behaviors he’s adopted.

Zootopia (2016) is another Disney hit that should not only entertain the whole family, but also engage audiences of all ages in discussions on social issues that are relevant today.

If the films from the Golden Age of female-led teen comedies (the mid-to-late 90s’ to the mid -2000s’) were a clique, Mean Girls (Waters, 2004) would be its queen bee. Even neophytes know that “on Wednesdays we wear pink.” Screenwriter Tina Fey has spoken recently about the possibility of a Mean Girls musical on Broadway. It is easily one of the most iconic teen movies of the last decade.Mean Girls made many contributions to 2000s’entertainment- it launched Amanda Seyfried’s career and foreshadowed Tina Fey’s 30 Rock humor two years before 30 Rock even premiered – but, more than that, it spoke to audiences in a way that hadn’t been done since the The Breakfast Club (Hughes, 1985) almost two decades before – and yet did it in a way entirely different from its predecessor, spinning timeless themes into something fun and fresh for the new millennium. In his article “Mean Girls is Everything (No, Really): How One Movie Summarized a Generation,” for Complex.com, writer Julian Kimble says: “On the surface, Mean Girls is a chick flick, but it succeeds because it speaks to real people. All of them” (Kimble 1). Mean Girls’ universal nature means, like TheBreakfast Club, everyone can look at Mean Girls and find a character whose experience speaks to their own. The reason for that? Mean Girls is grounded in real life – and in a way different from most teen comedies. Not many people know that Mean Girls was based on a book…. a nonfiction book. Even less have actually read "Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence.” Written by author\speaker\educator Rosalind Wiseman – a national authority on “ethical leadership, media literacy, and bullying prevention” (Wiseman 1) - as an advice guide for parents, “Queen Bees and Wannabees” has gone through two subsequent editions since its initial publication almost fifteen years ago – one in 2009, and the most recent edition in 2016. Most fans of Mean Girls are ignorant of the film’s source material, but they know its concepts. Mean Girls does a public service by disseminating Wiseman’s wisdom without preachiness, using humor to draw in young adult audiences and feeding them an important message while still giving them a good time.Besides its source material, Mean Girls was also shaped by a classic high school film that came before: the late 80s’ black comedy Heathers (Waters, 1988). The story of two outcasts systematically slaughtering the cool kids, Heathers underperformed on its original release – unfortunate, since “with its sneaky subversiveness and disgust for its characters, Heathers is more ambitious than most high-school comedies” (Zimmerman 1). However, it is now well-regarded as a cult classic, and even inspired an off-Broadway musical.

Veronica Sawyer (Barrett Wilbert Weed) and J.D. (Ryan McCartan) during curtain call after a performance of Heathers: The Musical Off-Broadway at New World Stages.

​Heathers & Mean Girls are sister films – and not only because siblings helped create them. (Daniel Waters, the screenwriter behind Heathers, and Mean Girls director Mark Waters are brothers). Even without knowing the familial connection between the two films, a viewer can see the things they share. Both films are known for being quotable – although Mean Girls is more so because of its lower rating. Both Mean Girls and Heathers are ahead of their time in reference to the LGBT community and its issues. Mean Girls has the “too gay to function” Damian as one of its prominent side characters – a rarity in early 2000s’ teen films. On top of that, Cady’s first friend at North Shore High, Janis Ian, (Lizzy Caplan) used to be part of the popular crowd before Regina spread rumors that she was a lesbian.

Heathers does not actually have any LGBT-identifying characters, but it also deals with rumors started about someone’s sexual orientation, and the consequences. Just like in Mean Girls, the subjects of the rumor can’t fight back…. not out of fear of further ostracism, but because they’re dead. After J.D. (Christian Slater) kills Ram and Kurt, he and Veronica scatter some props on the ground – as well as a forged suicide note with the line, "We realized we could never reveal our forbidden love to an uncaring and un-understanding world" – to insinuate the two were having a homosexual love affair. At the funeral, Kurt’s father stands and delivers an iconic piece of dialogue: “I love my dead gay son.” (The Heathers musical turns this touching, sobering moment into a campy, analogy-filled, musical number.) Afterwards, J.D. turns to Veronica and says, “Wonder how he'd react if his son had a limp wrist with a pulse,” turning back from sentimentality to what Heathers does so well: showcasing the unpleasant truths and bleak realities of life through humor. Mean Girls gets serious at times, too, but also still keeps audiences laughing. One similarity no one could have predicted. Both protagonists are fairly alike onscreen, but their actresses’ off-screen lives took near-identical trajectories when shoplifting arrests and substance abuse tarnished their careers.Even though they take on many of the same issues, Mean Girls and Heathers use different worldviews to examine topical content. Cady’s inexperience with\naivete about the teenage social scene and sense of her own privilege (a quality which comes from living and working with underprivileged people groups in Africa) makes her see the world as inherently good, while Veronica, who skirts the edge of cynicism before she meets her dark prince, gets sucked into J.D.’s way of thinking: the world is inherently evil. Heathers uses shocking images and scenarios to drive its points home with viewers, while Mean Girls prefers the “iron hand in velvet glove” approach; only a few times does it directly dish out advice (e.g., when Ms. Norbury (Tina Fey) tells the girls “you’ve got to stop calling each other sluts and whores!” during the impromptu gym assembly after the release of the Burn Book.) Mean Girls keeps its comedy light, for the most part, while Heathers spends most of its running time in the darkest corners.

Many teen comedies have been released since Mean Girls, but none have reshaped the genre in the same way. Only She’s the Man (Fickman, 2006) and Easy A (Gluck, 2010) even come close. Banking on Mean Girls’ original and continued success, a TV movie spin-off (erroneously titled Mean Girls 2 (Mayron, 2011) despite having no connection to the film except for its setting) was made in 2011. The film did not perform nearly as well with audiences and critics. Mean Girls 2 tried to recreate the formula, instead of noticing what worked in Mean Girls and trying to incorporate those characteristics, as many other filmmakers chose to do. If it had emulated specific strategies, instead of attempting to make another version of Mean Girls, perhaps it would have been more successful outside of its target audience.

The Plastics: 2.0 in Mean Girls 2 (Mayron, 2011)Mean Girls turned ten two years ago, but, overall, it doesn’t show its age. The Plastics’ fashion choices and preferred technological devices date the film, but their Burn Book, arbitrary rules about what items to wear – or not wear – on what days, and scheme of social influence feel current. The film endures because popularity, ostracism, and all of the other petty high school problems endure. Filmmakers who want to make clever and meaningful teen-oriented films should continue to look to Mean Girls as a model. The first-person narrative style is particularly effective because it allows the viewer to further identify with Cady, her experiences, and the lessons that she learns. Mean Girls may focus on teenagers, but it is, in its own unique way, intergenerational. Unless the social order or way of being drastically changes for students, I believe that Mean Girls will stay relevant for many more years, outlasting its peers in the cultural consciousness.

​The western is alive and well. From the sweeping vistas to the thrilling gunslingers, The Magnificent Seven shows that the western is here to stay. For years it was hard to find a good western, especially in the age of superheroes destroying cities or aliens attacking the earth. That is first and foremost what this film is, a combination of a modern action film and a classic western. The two mixing together proves to be thrilling throughout. The film has Director Antoine Fuqua reuniting with Denzel Washington for a third time. They previously worked together on Training Day and The Equalizer and continue their action packed streak a third time. Washington plays a warrant officer who is contracted to help free a town from a gang leader determined to take control of the land. Along they way he gathers a varied group of men with incredible abilities to help him in his fight. What seems as a simple enough story is strengthened by the depth and life the actors are able to bring to their character. The chemistry the cast has brings energy to the film that keeps you hanging on their every action. From a screenplay written by another Fuqua collaborator, Richard Wenk, and the first film effort of True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto it is no surprise that the characters will be engaging and complex.

Denzel Washington as Warrant Officer Sam Chisolm

​Once all of the elements of the film begin to come together we get to see just how much fun this film can be. The great misfortune of the movie is that it could have been something more. The film has clear potential to be a modern classic but it doesn’t quite live up to its namesake. There are many great elements, some that are even magnificent, but its lost somewhere along the way. One of the areas that lacks compared to the others is once we are finally introduced to the seven we never get the time to truly know them. It is clear that these are rich and complex characters that want to be apart of something great. Sadly, we never get to fully engage with them. Perhaps if this weren’t the case then the film could have soared as high as its predecessor. At times it tries a little too hard to be the John Ford film we all think of when we hear western, but it’s efforts never hold it back. Occasionally it slips into the territory of Spaghetti Western through the stylization of the action, but the fluidity of the story allows these transitions to flow smoothly. There is no shortage of talent; many of the actors and crewmembers are top at what they do and it shows. From the final film score of composer James Horner to the awe inspiring wide shots from cinematographer Mauro Fiore, we can see and hear every little detail that was put before us to enjoy. When all of this comes into place on the screen it allows itself to be the visual feast that we would expect from those who crafted it. It is nice to have this feeling after a summer of machismo films such as Suicide Squad (Ayer, 2016) didn’t live up to their expectation. Magnificent Seven is the right amount of gritty, intense action that will leave you wanting more. And with the talent of Chris Pratt in the role of gun slinging gambler, Joshua Faraday, it might even leave you with a smile on your face as well. At the end of the day this film shows us why the genre was such a success for so many years. It’s pure action packed fun, and that’s all it needs to be. After a summer of films that may have left a bad taste in our mouth it’s nice that the fall movie season is off to a great start with this shooting good thrill ride.